Tag: Tether

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Crypto Videos

CRYPTO! A Closer Look At Tether’s $1 Billion Bitfinex To Binance Swap!

https://youtu.be/3ttwX4yaTxs

https://youtu.be/3ttwX4yaTxs

A closer look at Tether’s $1 billion Bitfinex-to-Binance swap

A Tether swap worth $1 billion and involved Bitfinex, Binance, and Tron blockchain happened on Aug 20.
Tether stablecoin burned some of its supply on one blockchain only to mint it anew on another one. While this may sound easy enough, in reality, this operation involves quite a bit of planning as well as, more importantly, trust.

How was this performed?

During the six-transaction swap that occurred between two blockchains and took 1 hour and 1 minute to bring to completion, the Tether and Bitfinex side was never at risk. This was due to Binance being the initiating party. On the two occasions – right after the first transaction and then after the fourth one, Binance, as the initiator, was down $400 and $600 million, respectively. This type of risky operation either shows great trust among the involved parties, or perhaps the possibility of some additional mechanisms that were involved and that the public was are not aware of.

Another necessary condition for this swap was the fact that Binance had to have a surplus of $1 billion TRON-based USDT, which it was willing to trade for the equivalent amount of Ethereum-based USDT. Even though Binance has met this criterion, it is unclear whether the funds used belonged to the exchange or consisted of user deposits.

Tether, Binance, and controversy

Tether has been at the forefront of controversies in the cryptocurrency space, as the crypto community knows well by now. On top of that, Binance has been accused of making shady deals with many projects. While this particular example is most likely nothing to worry about, the crypto space has to be aware of centralized institutions traversing the crypto sector.

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Crypto Videos

Tether Talks About Printing USDT – What Does This Mean?

https://youtu.be/Ef4ggfwBDbM

https://youtu.be/Ef4ggfwBDbM

Tether Talks About “Printing” USDT

The CTO of Tether spoke about the popularity of its Ethereum-based asset and claimed that it was the reason why the company never burned a single USDT token.
The recent report that came from Flipside Crypto concluded that Tether never even tried to practice burning its tokens, additionally saying:
“We can also see that tokens never go to the “burn” category, which means that no USDT supply was destroyed throughout the course of April. Looking at the full USDT history on Ethereum, we found that tokens have never been burned.”

USDT’s side of the story

Paolo Ardoino, the CTO of both Tether and Bitfinex, explained that the company is mindful of how it works, and it does practice burning its tokens, but that it has so far done it only on the Omni and Tron networks. When it comes to the Ethereum network, Ardoino said that the company holds authorized but unissued and unbacked ERC20 tokens in their inventory.
He also stated that Ethereum had been the most popular blockchain in recent months, which caused the demand for ERC20-based USDT to rise exponentially.

Conclusion

While many condone this type of behavior and encourage burning and then reissuing new tokens, Ardoino said that the outcome is the same. However, many people who touched upon this topic believe that burning and reissuing USDT tokens could only help improve transparency and reduce skepticism, even if the outcome is the same in the end.

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Cryptocurrencies

Your Complete Guide to Tether

The idea behind cryptocurrency was that it would be used side by side, or better, outmatch fiat currency in everything.

The idea behind cryptocurrency was that it would be used side by side, or better, outmatch fiat currency in everything.

The idea behind cryptocurrencies was that they would be used side by side, or better, outmatch fiat currency in everything. cryptocurrencies would be quicker, more secure, more efficient, and so on. But as it grew popular, it soon became apparent that cryptocurrencies were extremely volatile. This volatility renders them untenable for use in daily transactions – necessitating the advent of stablecoins. Today, Tether is the poster child of stablecoins, or so to speak.

This guide walks you through everything you need to know about Tether, this thing called stablecoin and the seemingly endless controversy that Tether finds itself embroiled in.

What is Tether?

Tether is a cryptocurrency whose tokens are pegged to an equivalent amount of fiat currencies like the US dollar, the Chinese Yuan, the Euro, and so on. The Tether network’s native tokens are called Tether, and they trade by the name USDT.

Launched in July 2014 and opened for trading in February 2015, Tether was first called RealCoin, later rebranded as Tether by Tether LTD,  the company behind the project.

Tether belongs to an emerging type of cryptocurrency called ‘stablecoins.’ Stablecoins operate under the premise that cryptocurrency valuations do not have to be as unpredictable as the traditional cryptocurrency.  As such, stablecoins are backed by a reserve of fiat currencies or other cryptocurrencies that rely on external market economics (e.g., MakerDao) to create stable coins.

More on Stablecoins

In today’s crypto scene, the vast majority of cryptocurrencies are used purely as speculative trade instruments without much ‘’real-world” use. But this is not what cryptocurrency was invented for. The idea behind stablecoins is to provide stability for cryptocurrencies, which would make them suitable for use as mediums of exchange and stores of value.

Since cryptocurrencies are characterized by wild price swings, stablecoins attempt to provide price stability and offer fast processing power (for massive use ) and, at the same time, the privacy and security of cryptocurrencies. Also, investors can bet on stablecoins because they won’t experience the same volatility associated with cryptocurrencies.

In short, the original cryptocurrency vision was for it to compete with fiat currencies in purchasing power, be deflationary, and suitable for payments — Stablecoins attempt to model this ideal behavior.

How Does Tether Work?

Tether is based on different blockchain platforms. One version uses the Bitcoin blockchain-based Omni platform, with the other utilizing Ethereum’s blockchain.

The Bitcoin blockchain’s version inherits the stability and security of the world’s first blockchain.

Tether coins are collateralized by one US dollar, meaning a Tether coin is backed by and can be redeemed at any time for a US dollar.

Previously, Tether supported only the US dollar as a redeemable currency but has since added the Euro and the Chinese Yuan to its repertoire. 

What’s the Point of Tether? 

As we previously stated, cryptocurrencies are known for their incredibly wild volatilities. Yet that is partly why they are so popular – because traders and investors can purchase a cryptocurrency and sell it when prices shoot up – making significant profits.

Tether, being predicated on a stable, fixed price offers no thrill sufficient enough for crypto investors.  The cacophony associated with the crypto market – the pumps, dumps, bubbles is absent when it comes to Tether. Owning the crypto is similar to having a bank account that gives you zero returns.

So what’s the point of Tether?

Let’s explore the reason why Tether is useful, after all:

Transaction times. Money deposits and withdrawals on foreign exchanges are notoriously time-consuming processes that can even take up to a week to complete. Also, banks are closed after 5 pm, during the weekends and holidays. Thus, the traditional way is no guarantee for fast, quick, and reliable transactions. On the other hand, Tether transactions take just minutes. Traders can take advantage of this to quickly shift funds and grab arbitrage opportunities in the crypto market.

Transaction fees. The traditional money transfer system is characterized by expensive costs. On top of that, if you’re using another currency not supported by a particular exchange, you’ll be charged an extra conversion fee. By contrast, Tether charges very minimal to zero fees for transactions within its wallets.

Price Stability.  While cryptocurrencies’ volatility is a good thing for trading, the reality is not as rosy when you’re at risk of losing money. Countless people have invested in crypto waiting for it to spike – with no avail. Trading cryptos, while exhilarating and potentially lucrative, comes with a great deal of risk. That’s where a stablecoin like Tether comes in useful.

For example, imagine you’re trading Bitcoin for Litecoin. You convert BTC to buy LTC. Litecoin rises by 20%. You wish to make a profit and sell your LTC for BTC. While your trade is undergoing, Bitcoin suddenly falls by 30%. While you were right about LTC’s direction, you suffer a loss as a result of BTC taking a dip. 

Tokenomics of Tether

As of 3rd January 2020, Tether ranks at an impressive #6 position in terms of market capitalization, with the number standing at $4, 639, 755, 545. Its 24-hour volume is $39, 402, 491, 795, with a circulating supply of 4, 642, 367, 414. Tether’s total supply is 4, 776, 930, 644 USDT. Its all-time high was $1.21 in May 217, 2017.

Where to Buy and Store Tether

The most common way to acquire Tether is to exchange another cryptocurrency for it. There are hundreds of cryptocurrencies that are paired with the crypto.

You’ll find Tether at some of the most popular exchanges, including Binance, Bitfinex, Kraken, Bittrex, Coinut, Poloniex, Exmo, and so on.

The ERC20 version of Tether can be stored in any Ethereum-compatible wallet, including MyEtherWallet, Trust Wallet, MetaMask, Atomic Wallet, Mist, and so on.

It is also highly recommended you store your coins in hardware wallets – which are immune from online vulnerabilities such as hacking, phishing, etc. Some reputable options include Ledger Nano, Trezor, Coinomi, Exodus, etc.

There’s also the option of storing your crypto on the dedicated Tether wallet web interface. However, you might rethink this option not only because it supports just Tether, but because its security history is less than satisfactory.

The Myriad Controversies of Tether

This guide would be remiss if we didn’t mention the litany of controversies that have beset Tether since its launch. 

Let’s look at some of the controversies below:

In May 2016, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists leaked documents that pointed to Tether Ltd and Bitfinex as having the same CFO, CEO, and CSO. In what is called the Paradise Papers, it was revealed that both companies are operated by the same group of people and were not separate entities as the cryptoverse had been led to believe.

  • In April of 2017, Wells Fargo withdrew as the correspondent bank between US customers and Tether/Bitfinex. The two companies filed a lawsuit against the bank, only to withdraw it later.
  • Tether inexplicably terminated its relationship with a third-party audit firm that was to conduct an independent audit on its reserves. The audit was meant to establish if indeed Tether tokens in circulation were collateralized by real reserves.  Since then, no audit has ever been conducted to this day. 
  • In November 2017, a hacker made away with $31 million worth of USDT. The company quietly created a temporary hard fork to blacklist the address that had the funds – drawing criticism for that move.
  • In December 2017, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued a subpoena to Tether and Bitfinex on the grounds of lack of audit and what seemed to be its manipulation of Bitcoin’s price.
  • In June 2018, Bloomberg published a report titled “Crypto Coin Tether Defies Logic on Kraken’s Market, Raising Red Flags.” The report was published in response to what seemed as an unchanging price of Tether regardless of changes in the volume of buy and sell orders.
  • In April 2019, the New York Attorney General’s office accused Tether and Bitfinex of engaging in a collaborative cover-up of the loss of $850 million of co-mingled client and investor funds. The sum was previously held by a Panamian entity called Crypto Capital Corp. Per the court filings, authorities seized the money in various countries. Bitfinex had allegedly received $700 million from Tether’s reserves to hide the loss.

What’s the Future for Tether?

To date, Tether is yet to release any evidence that all Tether coins in circulation are backed by real reserves, but it insists so. In June 2019, the law firm Freeh, Sporkin, and Sullivan composed “The Tether Transparency” report – which indicated that Tether had real reserves backing the token. However, crypto experts were not satisfied with the report, which they insisted was no audit, but mere data obtained from Tether’s bank accounts.

As well, many of the controversies surrounding Tether have been debunked as FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) that’s so rife in cryptoverse.

Tether appears to be going steady despite all the storms. This can be attributed to the crypto community’s support for it as the most popular stablecoin, and the crypto project’s fighting back, sometimes with proof, against all allegations.

Summing it all, any external threats that would bring Tether down result mostly to naught, as it remains a favorite within the community.

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Crypto Videos

Tether & Its Controversies – Is Your Money At Risk?

https://youtu.be/Dgxi9lC6QyA

Tether and its controversies
Before talking about how does Tether work, we have to know what it is.
Tether is a blockchain-based stable cryptocurrency backed in fiat currency.

https://youtu.be/Dgxi9lC6QyA

Tether and its controversies
Before talking about how does Tether work, we have to know what it is.
Tether is a blockchain-based stable cryptocurrency backed in fiat currency.


Tether and its controversies

Before talking about how does Tether work, we have to know what it is.
Tether is a blockchain-based stable cryptocurrency backed in fiat currency. Tether is backed by the US Dollar, which is all held in a designated bank account. Tether tokens are traded under the USDT ticker symbol.

Tether was first launched under a different name. It was called RealCoin when it first came out in July 2014. However, it was quickly renamed to Tether in November by Tether Ltd. Tether Ltd. is the company that maintains the reserve amounts of fiat currency. Tether started trading in February 2015.


In-depth explanation

Tether is the leader of the new type of cryptocurrencies called stablecoins. Stablecoins are created to keep cryptocurrency valuations stable, as most cryptocurrencies fluctuate too much in price to be considered viable currencies. Low volatility would allow stablecoins to be used as a medium of exchange rather than as a medium of speculative investments.
There are many forms of stablecoins, and Tether specifically belongs to fiat-backed stablecoins. As previously said, the US Dollar backs each Tether token in circulation. Tether was created to build the bridge between fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies. It is supposed to offer stability, transparency, and minimal transaction charges to its users. Tether is pegged against the US Dollar and maintains a 1-1 ratio in terms of value and price. However, there is no guarantee whatsoever provided by Tether Ltd. that users can exchange their Tether tokens for US dollars.

According to CryptoCompare data cited by The Wall Street Journal, somewhere around 80% of all Bitcoin trading is currently done in Tether. If this is true, Tether would be considered a major source of liquidity for Bitcoin as well as the cryptocurrency market in general.


Controversies on Tether

Tether was known for its controversies throughout its history. It allegedly got hacked for $31 million worth of Tether tokens, which made the company fork the coin to create a rollback. This event happened in November 2017.

This is not the end of controversies with Tether. Another controversy happened as the audit that was created to ensure that the fiat reserve is maintained never took place. Instead, Tether announced it was parting ways with the firm that was supposed to audit them. Right after that happened, Tether was issued a subpoena by financial regulators. This event happened in January 2018.


In April 2019, New York Attorney General Letitia James accused the parent company of Tether Ltd. as well as the operator of cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex of hiding tremendous losses from its investors. Allegedly, Tether hid a loss of $850 million from its investors.

Tether has always been a center of attention when it comes to controversies. Many people are still insecure about whether it is backed by fiat currency or not. As there is no real evidence of whether the fiat funds exist, no one can say for sure. However, Tether remained a stable cryptocurrency for quite some time. So far, it has been a safe haven for traders and investors that want to move their funds away from volatile cryptocurrencies when the bear market approaches, without actually exchanging the cryptocurrencies for fiat. This way, they are avoiding various exchange and transaction fees.

Tether token is transacted on many popular cryptocurrency exchanges such as Binanace, BitFinex, and Kraken.

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Crypto Guides

Learning The Fundamentals Of ‘Tether’ – The Stable Cryptocurrency!

Introduction
Tether is a cryptocurrency founded in 2015, and it was initially known as ‘Realcoin.’ Tether tokens are issued by Tether Limited, a company based in the British Virgin Islands

Introduction
Tether is a cryptocurrency founded in 2015, and it was initially known as ‘Realcoin.’ Tether tokens are issued by Tether Limited, a company based in the British Virgin Islands

Introduction

Tether is a cryptocurrency founded in 2015, and it was initially known as ‘Realcoin.’ Tether tokens are issued by Tether Limited, a company based in the British Virgin Islands as per the New York Times. The official website says the company is incorporated in Hong Kong, with offices in the US. This company is associated with the Bitfinex, a Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange, which is also one of the biggest in the world. Many members who are on the board of Tether Limited are associated with Bitfinex exchange, as well.

Objective

The value of any cryptocurrency is volatile. We can see the steep increases and decreases in the value of any crypto within a matter of days or hours, as well. We know that these Cryptocurrencies offer a wide range of features that fiat currencies don’t assure.  Therefore, Tether was designed as a stable coin promising the stability of fiat currency with the features of a cryptocurrency as well. Tether is meant to be backed one for one by some of the major fiat currencies like USD, Euro, JPY, etc. If we take the example of USD, the value of each Tether is always one dollar (USDT). For every one tether created, one US dollar is stored as a reserve.

Importance of Tether in the crypto world

Many crypto exchanges across the globe find it extremely difficult to work with traditional banks. The exchanges find it challenging to store USD or any conventional fiat currency as reserves for the payments. Hence major crypto exchanges like Bitfinex hold clients balance in Tether rather than in USD. This means, if the clients hold any money in the exchange and don’t have any open positions, that money is held as Tether in the exchange. It is converted into USD only when the client wants to redeem the cash. Hence Tether offers to be a stable alternative for USD for the crypto exchanges across the world.

Market Cap

Tether is in the fifth position in terms of market cap in the crypto world with a value of more than $4 billion. The price of each Tether is stable and is one dollar or Euro, etc. as described above. The average 24-hour trading volume is just above $43 billion, while the circulating supply is around $4.1 billion in the market as on 1st Nov 2019.

Controversies

Tether has a fair share of controversies in its kitty. As the central banks hold the appropriate amount of gold reserves equivalent to the new currency issued in the market, Tether Limited holds the equivalent amount of US Dollars in its reserve for the Tether coins circulated in the market. Lately, there are claims that the company doesn’t hold enough reserves in USD, claiming Tether Ltd haven’t been too transparent with the audits as to where and how much of the reserves have been stored in different places.

The December 2017 Bitcoin price surge is also attributed to be the work of the Tether limited. It is alleged that the company has created Tether coins out of thin air and bought Bitcoin at a lower price, eventually attributing the price surge of the currency. Thus, there are growing fears in the crypto market that if there are no adequate reserves of USD backing the Tether, the value of the coin should be determined by the market rather than maintaining it stable. Despite all these controversies, this cryptocurrency is still one of the most traded ones in the crypto space because of its stability factor.

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Crypto Guides

What Is Market Capitalization? Top Cryptocurrencies With Highest Market Cap!

Introduction
Market capitalization is estimated for publicly traded companies in general to determine the value of that company. The value is calculated based on the total number of outstanding shares

Introduction
Market capitalization is estimated for publicly traded companies in general to determine the value of that company. The value is calculated based on the total number of outstanding shares

Introduction

Market capitalization is estimated for publicly traded companies in general to determine the value of that company. The value is calculated based on the total number of outstanding shares in the market multiplied by the individual share price. In simple words, the market cap is nothing but the market value of a publicly trading company.

Initial Public Offering (IPO)

Initial Public Offering or IPO’s are widely known. Companys which issue IPOs are publicly trading companies willing to raise capital for investing in the business to diversify and expand the company. When a company issues IPO, it agrees to sell a certain stake of the company to the public to raise the company. There are many successful IPO’s since 1602, when the first-ever IPO was recorded. Global companies like Amazon and Apple crossed one trillion-dollar in market cap, making them powerful than some smaller countries.

Initial Coin Offering (ICO)

Similar to IPOs, we have ICOs called Initial Coin offering with regards to cryptocurrencies. ICOs help crypto companies to raise funds that will be invested in creating a new coin, service, or dApps. These companies generally release a white paper detailing the aim of the ICO, minimum capital they intend to raise, and the basic design and properties of the product they are trying to create. Many investors plan to invest in ICOs to make quick bucks and earn tremendous profits. The result of some of the prominent ICOs promises the same.

Hence, the market cap of a cryptocurrency is determined by the number of outstanding coins in the market multiplied by the individual value of a coin.

Now, let’s look at the top 10 cryptocurrencies in terms of market capitalization.

  1. Bitcoin (Market Cap – $146.1 BN)

Bitcoin is the first-ever cryptocurrency, and it is obvious that this crypto tops the list in terms of market cap. The market cap of Bitcoin is $146,141,293,771, with the total number of coins in circulation being almost 18 million. As we all know, only 21 million Bitcoins can ever be mined.

  1. Ethereum (Market Cap – $19.1 BN)

Ethereum rightly earned its second place as it was developed to overcome the limitations of bitcoin, and it has become the second favorite amongst the investors. The market cap of Ethereum is around $19,191,075,792 with 108,182,195 coins in circulation.

  1. Ripple (Market Cap – $12.8 BN)

Ripples XRP takes third place with $12,833,995,058 as a market cap. The total number of coins in circulation is around 43,166,787,298. This crypto earned its credibility by gaining support from some of the most powerful centralized institutions like Federal Reserva.

  1. Tether (Market Cap – $4.1 BN)

Tether has been developed to be a stable coin, i.e., the price will always be maintained as one dollar. This coin has been developed to have the stability of fiat currency while having the key properties of cryptocurrency. The market cap of Tether is $4,121,497,986, with 4,108,044,456 coins being circulated in the market.

  1. Bitcoin Cash (Market Cap – $3.9 BN)

Bitcoin cash is created by forking the main Bitcoin platform. The market cap is around $3,956,035,700 with 18,061,950 number of coins in the market.

  1. Litecoin (Market Cap – $3.4 BN)

Litecoin is a spinoff of Bitcoin, thus earning the name of altcoin, which means alternate coin (to bitcoin). Around 63,484,804 Litecoins are currently circulating in the market.

Some of the other cryptos with high market cap include

Binance Coin (Market Cap – $2.8 BN)

EOS (Market Cap – $2.7 BN)

Bitcoin SV (Market Cap – $1.5 BN)

Stellar (Market Cap – $1.3 BN)

All the above information is as of 16th October 2019. For real-time figures, you can visit this website.

The adoption and usage of cryptocurrencies will only increase in the future as they are here to stay. At the peak of the bitcoin price in December 2017, the market cap of all the cryptocurrencies was around 125 billion dollars, and as of today, it is 221.3 billion dollars. Given the history, the market cap of all the cryptocurrencies can quickly reach a trillion dollars in the near future.

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Cryptocurrencies

Tether Review: How Safe or Stable Is This Stable Coin?

Tether is a pioneer of a hybrid class of blockchain-based crypto coins referred to as Stable coins. These were developed with the sole purpose of addressing cryptocurrency volatilities synonymous with

Tether is a pioneer of a hybrid class of blockchain-based crypto coins referred to as Stable coins. These were developed with the sole purpose of addressing cryptocurrency volatilities synonymous with

Tether is a pioneer of a hybrid class of blockchain-based crypto coins referred to as Stable coins. These were developed with the sole purpose of addressing cryptocurrency volatilities synonymous with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. The stability of Tether is made possible by the fact that each Tether coin issued is collateralized by traditional fiat currencies on a 1:1 ratio. The most popular stable coin today is the US dollar Tether(USDT). 

But how safe and effective is the pioneer stable coin? Who can use this stable coin? What challenges has it faced to date, and what have been some of its solutions? We address these all in this comprehensive Tether Review.

What is tether, and how does it work?

Tether is a digital currency that seeks to provide you with the benefits of both an open-sourced blockchain technology and traditional fiat currency. According to Tether Limited, their systems convert cash deposits into digital coins whose value is tethered to the price of global currencies like the USD, EUR, and Yen. The company also claims to hold fiat currency in reserves that are equivalent to the Tether coins in circulation today. These Tether coins are then used to facilitate different crypto transactions. For instance, pure crypto-to-crypto exchanges, USDT serves as an alternative to the US Dollar.

Who can use the stable coin?

Like most other cryptocurrencies, there are no restrictions on the use of Tether across the globe. The stable coin has, however, received mass adoption by crypto traders and investors operating in crypto exchanges that do not accept fiat currencies. In this case, the stable coin has been used to load cash in an out of the different markets. Additionally, these crypto industry players have also been using the crypto coin as a hedge against different investments. Note that the increased circulation of these coins has also seen most crypto enthusiasts embrace Tether as a store of value.

How safe is Tether?

Tether derives its stability and safety from the fact that it was designed to always be worth $1.00. The unwritten rules of engagement between Tether and its USDT coin holders are that Tether Limited will, at all times, maintain a cash reserve of $1.00 for every tether issued. The company further promises to regularly audit and make public the company’s financial records.

These would show how much Tethers coins are in circulation at any given time and their cash and cash equivalent backings. While this sounds interesting, it should be noted that there is no contractual agreement between Tether Limited and its clients towards the fulfillment of this or other promises. We address these in detail in the risk and concerns section below.

Risks and concerns:

☑️Lack of proper auditing:

While Tether Limited claims to have backed tether coins 1-to-1 with traditional fiat currencies, they haven’t audited their financial records in more than two years. This didn’t go unnoticed by the crypto community, who demanded to know the ratio with which the company backs its stable coin. In reaction to this, Tether Limited had its lawyers – and not an audit firm  – release a report about the same. Our concerns aren’t just on the lack of proper auditing reports but the qualifying language these lawyers use in drafting this report.

☑️The legitimacy of Tether reserves:

The lack of verifiable and reliable audit reports from Tether Limited makes us question their claim of 1:1 tether to fiat currency reserve. And our concerns are only aggravated by the fact that USDT coin holders don’t have the legal power to demand an audit from Tether Limited. The 1:1 reserve is just a promise that Tether can break anytime.

☑️Bitfinex – Tether collusion:

There were reports and that Bitfinex and Tether – both share common management – were using USDT to manipulate Bitcoin price. These reports that saw Bitfinex exchange Subpoenaed by the New York Attorney General claimed that Bitfinex was creating Virtual USDT and using it to wash trade Bitcoin. In another incidence, the New York Attorney General’s office accused Bitfinex of Using Tether’s funds to cover over $850 million missing funds. Both instances make us question the independence of Tether and its fiat currency reserves.

What we like and don’t like about tether

what we like:

It reduces transaction time: Bank deposits and withdrawals in and out of different crypto exchanges can take between 1 to 4 days to process – or more during weekends. Tether transactions, on the other hand, take no more than a few minutes to complete.

Lowers transaction fees: Having to deposit and withdraw funds in and out of the bank every time you need to enter into a crypto position isn’t just tedious, but it is also expensive. Tether transactions are cheaper and relatively fast.

A safe haven during periods of unsustainable volatility: What happens when your preferred crypto assets hit unsustainable highs? The best move here is to cash out and wait for the coin to dip before making another buy. Tether presents you with the perfect safe-haven for your investments away from risky volatilities and the often-high withdrawal and deposit fees.

Downsides to the use of Tether:

Zero-interest: The fact that Tether will always be valued at $1.00 implies that you don’t stand to gain from price fluctuation of interest. This makes it less attractive than bank deposits.

Riskier than bank deposits: Banks are highly regulated, regularly audited, and deposits therein insured. Tether isn’t regulated and doesn’t live to its promise of transparency through regular audits. Furthermore, should you lose Tether funds, there is no guarantee that you will be compensated.

Where can you trade tether?

Virtually all major crypto exchanges and a significant number of medium-sized exchanges accept USDT trades. The coin’s popularity within the crypto community is evidenced by the fact that it currently appears on the top-ten list of most traded crypto coins.

Final word

Tether has made significant contributions towards taming the crypto industry volatilities. It has provided traders and investors with an inexpensive, safe haven for their coins. It has also significantly cut down on time wastage experienced with bank transactions. There, however, are major concerns with regards to how Tether Limited manages their fiat reserves. These have dented the crypto community’s trust in the stable coin through breach of promise and lack of transparency. You, therefore, need to exercise caution when dealing with this controversy-rigged stable coin.